Taking drunken driving by horns

That's one of the reasons why last year he helped persuade a Los Angeles County judge to give an underage convicted drunken driver a sentence of 4,000 hours of community service and one year of county jail, instead of 16 years in prison.

Brandon Houlette was 20 years old when he killed a Burbank man while driving under the influence of alcohol on his way home from a banquet in Buena Park.

"I thought, what purpose is it going to serve for this really bright kid, who didn't mean to kill this man, but nevertheless is responsible, to serve that kind of time in prison, then come out and be a wasted human being," says Golden, an Anaheim Hills resident.

Golden, the first executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, who also helped found the national organization, had 25 years of experience lobbying against drunken driving at the time. So, he became Houlette's mentor and taught him how to track statistics, research studies, and lobby legislators.

Since his sentencing in June, 2005, Houlette has clocked 500 hours working for Golden. Now, he says, his goal is "to save lives."

"It's not something that I'm going to turn my back on and walk away from," says Houlette, who moved two months ago from Aliso Viejo to Sunnyvale. "It's my duty. It's something I need to do to give back to society."

Alcohol related fatalities nationwide have hovered around 17,000 for the last five years. In April, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that between 2004 and 2005 overall alcohol-related fatalities increased 1.7 percent from 16,694 to 16,972.

Statewide, driving under the influence fatalities have fluctuated over the past decade, but climbed from 859 fatalities in 2002, to 1,010 fatalities in 2005, according to the California Highway Patrol.

For someone like Golden, who has dedicated a good chunk of his life trying to battle drunken driving, these statistics are worrisome because they aren't dropping. Everywhere he turns, he sees the alcohol industry promoting liquor and beer.

"You virtually can't see a movie without somebody swigging a bottle of beer. It's everywhere," says Golden, 61, also a former television investigative journalist.

But he has a plan.

The plan doesn't involve MADD, which earlier this month held its national convention in Anaheim. In fact, it doesn't involve any agency, organization or even money.

It involves the power of one.

Let me explain. Golden understands all too well the sway that the alcohol industry has with federal and state governments thanks to big money and political contributions. But with local government there's still hope, he says.

"That's where people have power if they learn to use it," says Golden.

About five years ago, Golden says he realized that although many communities around the nation have implemented successful strategies to combat drunken driving, there was not a comprehensive, evidence-backed set of standards for cities to adopt.

What local cities need, he says is to PEET out the problem, or as he explains to establish a code of standards that address Prevention, Education, Enforcement and Treatment based on existing successful strategies.

For example, in some states parents can be convicted of a felony for serving alcohol in their home to a minor. Other states require consumers to register when they buy a keg of beer so that it can be tracked if sold to minors. Alcohol checkpoints have been shown to lower the death and injury rate but are mainly done during holidays, he says.

"This code of standards has to be factored into the equation to make sure we're not just doing it at Christmastime, and we forget all the other days …," says Golden. Every single drunken driving tragedy has an explanation, says Golden. The key is using the lessons we've learned and unifying them.

Though Golden is retired, he'd like to share his knowledge, just as he's doing with Houlette. His plan involves teaching victims to petition mayors and city councils to hold public hearings on creating a code of standards.

It may be impossible to completely eliminate drunken driving, but it's clear we need to do more to reduce the fatalities and injuries.

"I'm not a victim. I was just a journalist who saw a way to do something," says Golden. "This issue really needs to be fought by honest victims, who want to get something done, who have no ax to grind, other than to stop it from happening to so many others."

Contact the writer: Cabrera's opinions on local news appear every Tuesday and Thursday. Contact her at ycabrera@ocregister.com or 714 -796-3649.

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